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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Unemployment Benefits Being Slashed Around the Country

That's the topic of this sobering article by Michael Fletcher. The econony bottom out about four years ago, but official unemployment rates -- which don't count the millions who have given up looking for work -- are still really high. That rate is 9.2% in North Carolina, and yet, because of what legislators claim is too great a budget burden, that state's legislature is poised to slash the maximum weekly benefit from $535 to $350, while limiting the duration of benefits to only 20 weeks (now at 26 weeks). (The average weekly benefit in the state will drop from $296 to $200.) North Carolina is not alone. According to Fletcher, other states cutting unemployment benefits in the last two years are Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas.